Life with Two Toddlers

The boys have been full of mischeif and hilarious antics lately.  Here is just a sampling of what they've been up to:

I had both boys downstairs "helping" me start the laundry. We loaded in the white stuff and I went to go spot treat a few things while the washer filled with hot water. In the 2 minutes I was gone Chase loaded the entire DARK load into the washer, with the whites and steaming hot water. So then I had to unload and try to wring out the sopping wet and steaming hot dark clothes. While I was doing that Hudson disappeared. By the time I caught up with him he was all the way upstairs in my bathroom splashing my toilet. Lovely. I washed his hands, locked the door to my room and took both boys downstairs to "help" me finish up the breakfast dishes. 20 seconds later I get a phone call and suddenly realize Hudson is no where to be found and realized he was upstairs splashing in the toilet of Chase's bathroom! This all happened in less than 10 minutes!

Chase has been mostly sleeping on his floor lately. He takes a pillow and a few of his favorite blankets and just makes a little bed for himself. Last night when Ben went in to check on him he was cuddled up with a towel he'd snagged from the bathroom.

My mom was babysitting while I was at Young Womens and sent me this picture. The boys love this car and tend to fight over who gets to drive it (really, Hudson just doesn't think anyone should drive it but him). So this is Chase, driving the car and "talking" on the phone, while Hudson is trying to pull him out.

My mom took me shopping for my birthday and while we were out bought me a roll of fruity mentos- one of my favorite candies. It was in my purse/diaper bag, which I'd left in my room. The next morning as I was prepping to go out I realized that the wrapper for the mentos was in there, but no candy inside. I questioned Chase about what happened the candy and sure enough he told me, "Mom, I just ate one-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight of them!" I think he was indicating that he meant to stop after just one or two, but they were so good he kept going. And then he ran to a blanket in his room, unfolded it to reveal 1/2 a mento and informed me, "But it's okay, I saved this one for Nana." This is what he was up to when he was supposed to be going to bed and Ben and I were watching TV downstairs. I thought his story was funny so I thanked him for being honest, but told him not to do that kind of thing again. Then he told me, "It's okay mommy, Nana will buy you more."

Best Day Ever

This was probably one of Chase's favorite days of his whole life. We went to the Discovery Gateway, which is one of his favorite places, but the best part was how we got there. ON FRONTRUNNER! Chase loves Frontrunner. The last time he rode it was on his birthday and he literally still talks about it all the time! So for our fun outing with Nana this week we rode Frontrunner to Salt Lake and Chase was over the moon!

 You can see, both boys loved the train so much! I love how in this picture of me and the boys neither boy can stop admiring the train long enough to look at the camera.

Then we got to play at the museum. The boys started with the new Bob the Builder exhibit, which is always a great time. The boys are so happy there! This time they were extra happy because Nana was there, which means that the boys didn't have to stay together, they could both explore at their own pace without me trying to keep them in the same vicinity. This day was extra fun because my darling cousin Kelly was in town for a few days and met us there as well! My favorite moment might have been when she first saw Chase (who she hasn't seen since Christmas) and she said, "Chase you are so big!"

His reply- "No, I'm pretty small."

Fathers Day Photo Project

Or a more accurate title would be "What Was I Thinking?"

As our Fathers Day gift for the grandpas we decided to exploit the fact that our kids are darling and give the grandpas photos of the kiddos. So my plan was to take some of just my boys for Ray, but then try to get some cute ones of all three grandbabies for my dad. I figured I'd get them all knocked out on Saturday morning- Ben was working, but Will and Kate were around and I *figured* that with a 1:1 adult child ratio we should be successful. Factors working against us were the fact that Chase is crazy, distracts easily, and has never felt any need to actually look at the camera while smiling, Hudson just wants to touch (er...hit) Nora whenever he's around her, and Nora was 9 days old, doesn't like to be set down and was hungry. Factors working with us were basically only these kid's innate cuteness. What resulted was a series of perfect unphotogenic-ness and hilarious pictures. Once I de-stressed from the craziness of this project I could enjoy how funny the pictures turned out. 

At this point we all gave up, Chase announced to Kate that "Hudson isn't cooperating" and we packed up and went home.  The next day we had round 2 to try to get some better pictures for Ray. We actually came up with a few good ones:

Fathers Day

 The boys and I are sure lucky to have this guy around! Ben is hardworking, honest, and persistent. Even though he works long, long hours, he puts his family first and he's here when we need him. He makes the most of his time off and he's teaching our boys great things. They are so lucky to have him as their dad and I'm lucky to have him as my partner on this crazy boy-raising journey. Plus, look what happens when I go visiting teaching and daddy has them for an hour...

And the Fun Continues

Just like last week, this week has been packed with fun, summer activities. Monday we had our weekly outing with Nana to the zoo! Chase was so excited to go and see a zebra and a crocodile. The Hogle Zoo just barely opened their new African Savannah exhibit with zebras (and giraffes and lions and other cool stuff). It's pretty hard to see, but in the picture of him below the zebras are in the background. Hudson was SO enthusiastic about the zoo. You can see him here, just trying to get over that fence and closer to the giraffes! Hudson favorite by far though was the bears. He didn't want to leave and he kept pointing at them and saying "bea-yas!" He had never said bear before, so they made quite the impact on him. The major highlight of the day was riding the newly refurbished zoo train! We made Chase wait until the end to ride it and he was so thrilled. Every time I've taken my boys to the zoo it has just gotten more fun and this time was no exception. They are so interested in the animals and I love seeing their little faces light up! 

On Tuesday we met our good friends Alyse and Ryder Bennett (and baby Drew who slept the whole time) at the Hill Airforce Base Museum. Chase loves this place! He's been a handful of times and it's great (and free!). We walked around the whole museum and Chase and Ryder ran excitedly from one aircraft to the next pointing out all their exciting features. There is something so magical about airplanes and little boys! 

Wednesday we had a ward playgroup activity to the fire station! A man in our ward is a fireman out at the airport and he took us on a tour. Chase was over the moon! He loves fire trucks and was so interested in everything the fireman said. He let Chase sit up on the firetruck, which was a major highlight for Chase. At the end he showed them how far and fast the hoses can spray water. Chase was slightly overwhelmed, but Hudson was throwing up his hands in the air and screaming in glee! 

And besides that we've spent a whole lot of time in the pool! These boys are water babies! On Saturday night my dad made a fire and we roasted marshmallows and Chase can't stop talking about it. We promised him it could be a Saturday night tradition, so he's anxiously awaiting next Saturday night. It really hadn't occurred to me until two weeks ago how much fun summer would be. Since we aren't in school yet it doesn't seem like it should be that different than our normal life, but it's been just the opposite. There is something magical about summertime. 

Out of the Mouth of Chase

Chase: Today I rode in a Bill's big truck. And it has big wheels.
Me: Bill? Who is Bill?
Chase: You know! Bill! Papa's dad!
(I had NO idea he knew that my grandpa's name was Bill! My dad since explained that him and Chase had a LONG conversation whilst riding in said truck about who's truck it was and what his name was.)

The later a Bill Gephart commercial came on the radio in the car and Chase piped up:
"That's Bill! That's Papa's dad!"

Me: Chase- why did you sleep on your floor last night?
Chase: My bed was just driving me CRAZY!

Chase: What friends are we playing with today?
Me: Jane, Alise and Jack. Jack is their baby just like we have Hudson.
Chase: Oh yeah. Jack is their baby. He just doesn't talk and just whines.
Me: Oh yeah? Is that was our baby does too?
Chase: Yeah he does. Hudson doesn't talk and just whines.

My mom was saying the prayer on the food at dinner last Sunday when right at the end...
Nana: we say these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Chase: And please bless the ipad! Amen!

Mommy, your so pretty, because your a girl!

Chase: Did you know that Will and Matt call their papa "grandpa"?
Me: Yes I did.
Chase: Yeah! And Papa calls his guy Bill!
(Bill is actually not my dad's grandpa, but his dad. And he calls him dad. But I thought this was so funny!)

Chase: Mom, I'm ready to buy a house.
Me: Oh really?
Chase: Yeah. What house should we buy?
Me: What do you think?
Chase: Let's buy Nana and Papa's house!

Chase: Mom I just rubbed my booger on Hudson okay?
Me: What? No! Why did you do that?
Chase: Why? Hudson doesn't care.

Cute Zoo Employee: (after telling us interesting facts about the zebras) Do you want to play a game with me?
Chase: NO! I want to see a crocodile. (And then he walked away- he's usually much more friendly than that and all about playing games, but this day he was really on a mission)

While talking on the phone to Heidi:
Hi Heidi? Are you having fun in Boston? My daddy took the element!
(He's such a tattle tale. My parents are selling Heidi's element, so Ben took it into work for some repairs- he didn't actually steal it)

The Best Week of Summer

Here we are only one week into summer and I already feel like we are having the best summer ever! Every day this week has been packed with fun activities for me and the kids and we have had a blast! I think we are all completely exhausted, but that happy exhausted you get when you play all day! Here are the highlights of our week:

DINOSAUR PARK: My mom decided that she's going to take the boys on a fun outing once a week all summer. Luckily I get to tag along on the fun. This week we went to Dinosaur Park and Chase LOVED it. He has a few books on dinosaurs and he's seen their skeletons at the Natural History Museum and this just piqued his interest even more. He wanted to know all about every dinosaur we saw. Both boys liked digging in their little "archaeological site" and then Chase really loved the dinosaur themed playground attached. Ever since we've been talking about what happened to the dinosaurs. I didn't actually have a good answer for him, so we asked my geologist cousin Kelly who gave Chase a great explanation and now he can give an adorable explanation it to anyone who asks! 

 

SWIMMING: We've been swimming every day this week! We have been going up to my parent's house after naps and swimming for an hour or two. A couple of times we were joined by other little friends in the neighborhood, which Chase loved. On the other days my mom played with Hudson while I gave Chase swimming lessons. Chase continues to amaze me with how fast he learns! He's doing a great job streamlining through the pool and after the second day figured out how to float on his back. He's making quick progress and he loves swimming lesson time (partly because it is the only time he's allowed out of his life jacket). Hudson is as happy as can be in the water. Ben came with us on his day off and loved playing with our happy little water babies! 

PARKS: We went to the park twice this week. These boys love slides and swings (well mostly just Hudson, swings kind of freak Chase out), but what they really really love is digging in the sand! They are so happy if they each have a shovel and a bucket!

 DONUT DAY: Friday was National Donut Day and Krispy Kreme was giving away a free donut to anyone who came in. Given Chase's intense love for donuts we had to go! Both boys loved watching all the donuts being made while we waited in line and couldn't wait to get home to eat them. Ben and I both have a major sweet-tooth and our boys definitely do too!

 YARD WORK: Our yard is pretty simple. It's mostly just grass with one little flower bed. Chase is so into yard work though. He loves to help mow the lawn. I took the boys on a walk while Ben started mowing the lawn and Chase kept telling me we needed to get home "so he could help daddy!" He takes lawn care very seriously.